


what you need, you already have

by AslansCompass



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Gen, Not Canon Compliant - Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-05-31 12:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15119756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AslansCompass/pseuds/AslansCompass
Summary: In the ruins of the first Jedi temple, Luke Skywalker and Ezra Bridger ponder the future of the Order. (No romance or action here. )





	1. Arrival on Ahch-Too

Ezra Bridger didn't even look out the window as his ship came out of hyperspace.  He could feel the planet beneath him, the  _weight_ of it in the Force.  An ocean tide, calm on the surface, but infinitely beyond the reach of any sapient being.  

_bEEPwOoP._

"Chopper, I didn't ask for your opinion. Just get us into the atmosphere."  _There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._ Ezra repeated the Code, using the brief phrases to slip into mediation.  His surroundings dissolved, like the edges of a raindrop joining a stream.  Current, rolling across the planet, wrapping the mountaintops, washing up on the shore,  wiggling through streams.  

Rock. Dryness. Closed-off, a knot in the strands. A willful blindness.

So, his hunch had been right after all.

* * *

 

 _So, I guess I'm old,_ Luke thought wryly. He pulled the oil-slicked cloak over his head and hung it on a peg. Rain steadily pounded on the domed roof, slipping through unpatched chinks in the slate.  No point having a fire tonight. Even if the wood had stayed dry, wind would just blow the smoke back down the chimney.  Nights like this, he almost missed Tantooine. The blistering days and numbing nights, the glare of the twin suns; but it was  **dry.**  

Someone knocked on the door.  One of the Lanai? But they wouldn't be out in this weather. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time one of them tried to interact with him.  When he first arrived, the Lanai had followed him everywhere,  jabbering angrily. In a few months, the talk died to sullen glares. Now they paid him no more mind than the sea-cows he milked.

The knocking resumed.

He grunted.

"Luke? Master Skywalker?"

The title stung. "There's no master here."

"Master or not,  would you let me in? It's a long walk back to my ship--"

_BeWooop._

"No, I am not going to let you rust. After all we've been through, really?"

He must be imagining things. Lost in his memories again. He could swear he had this conversation with R2 several times.  "Astromechs," he muttered.

"I know, right?"  

Luke must have let someone in, but he can't remember when or why.  He only sees the stranger sitting on the ground, astromech at his side. C-1 series, if he wasn't mistaken. The machine chattered away in a low tone, beeps and whistles only-half audible. The stranger nodded and murmured back.  

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, obviously. That is, assuming you are Luke Skywalker?"

"And if I'm not?"

"Then I'd have to ask why someone else exiled himself to the site of the first Jedi Temple. Don't get me wrong, if you're looking for a hermitage, there are worse places. Mustafar, for example. And the odds of someone ending up here by mistake.... well, once is chance. One I wouldn't expect to see again  in my lifetime."

"How did you find me?"

"Which answer do you want?"

"The short one."

"Pity. It's a good night for a long story."

"Make it short and you can be back on your way to wherever you came from." 

The man shook his head.  "Something to drink first?" 

"Thala-milk's in that thermos. I don't have any mugs."

"That's fine." The stranger raised his hand. The thermos snapped into his hand like two magnets joining.

"You--you're a--" Human, or at least humanoid, that much had been clear from the beginning.  Age...age was hard to say. It had always been more of a sense, an intuition in the Force, sapling or towering tree. Even without lowering his shields, Luke knew this man had seen many things. But it hadn't worn him down, hadn't broken him. 

"Not exactly. Not strictly speaking. But who does, these days?"  

"Did you know Ben? Or Yoda?"

"Ben?"

"Ben Kenobi. Or Obi-Wan, I suppose." 

"Obi-Wan? Yes...I met him. Once."

"When?"

"More than thirty, nearly forty years ago. Some desert planet, twin suns."

"Tatooine?"

"Sounds right." 

"What were you doing there?"

"That's a long story. And you said you weren't interested in those."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I may be persuaded to change my mind."

 

 


	2. Jedi Master

The rainstorm ceased early the next morning. Luke was still asleep, dozing in a half-sitting position against the wall. Ezra left the hut quietly, followed by Chopper.  The ocean reflected the suns' light, casting a faint dazzle on the rocky hillside.  Ezra followed the well-worn paths up the mountain, letting the rhythm carry him into walking meditation.   _There is no emotion, there is peace.  There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

Knowledge of how little one knows; awareness of ignorance. Four years as Kanan's apprentice; four years snatched from a manual that lasted a lifetime.  What was there to say? Ezra wasn't a teacher; what wisdom could he possibly offer?  He'd been reaching out with the Force since entering the atmosphere, but Luke wasn't there.  The Force _was_ there, as rich and mysterious as ever, but Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, was not. 

Ezra didn't even think that was possible. He knew one had to open oneself to the Force; logically, one could do the opposite, closing all channels. His own apprentice bond had wavered, sometimes deliberately on his part. But to shut oneself completely--it must be like breathing in bacta, like traveling hyperspace in an escape pod.  Claustrophobic.

Chopper beeped at him.  Transmission possible. Only data; no hologram, not even voice patterns, just data. At this distance, even simple messages would take considerable time to transmit.

"Chopper, send the following: Shipment located. No rust, no missing pieces." Ezra paused for a moment.  He didn't wish to alarm anyone, but this wasn't going to be a simple salvage mission. Knowing Luke's location was not the same as  _finding_ him.  "Further examination required." 

Ezra's stomach growled.  He reflexively reached for the Force to mute the sensation.  

_bEepOpp_

"Fine, yes, I know I have better options on the ship." Come to think of it, Luke would probably appreciate some higher quality rations then fish and siren milk.  "Are you done with the transmission? No? Find me afterwards, then." Ezra turned and headed down the hill.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Points to whoever catches the X-Men shout-out in this chapter.


End file.
